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Gemini and Glenn ▲ In 1961, the United States announced the Gemini program, which would build on the work of the Mercury 7. Using a small group of hand-picked astronauts and the scientific and industrial might of the nation, the US was committing to reaching the Moon. Gemini was the first step. In 1962, John Glenn (right) of the Gemini program became the first man to orbit the Earth. He flew around the entire planet three times before his capsule fell to Earth. It landed in the Atlantic Ocean and Glenn joined Gagarin and Shepard as interna- tional heroes. (Glenn later returned to space in 1998 when he was a US senator from Ohio.)

First Space Walk

▲ In 1965, during Gemini 4 ’s orbits of Earth, Ed White stepped outside the space capsule. Wearing a space suit and connected by hoses to the craft, he was the first American to “walk” in space. In NASA-talk, however, he was on an EVA: Extra-Vehicular Activity.

The Soviet Side While the Americans were creating Mercury and Gemini, the Soviets were mixing rocketry studies with plans for manned flight. The designs were led by Sergei Korolev, building on the rocket advances made after World War II. They also had a starting group of cosmonauts, as their space fliers were known, called Vanguard 6. The Soviets also sent many flights into space “manned” with dogs. Some survived, but most perished during or after the flights.

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